1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a snag-free or safety wristwatch system and in particular to a safety wristwatch system free of protruding elements and external stems, which prevents injuries and infection upon contact with persons other than the wearer.
2. The Prior Art
Commonly worn wristwatches often incorporate elements that may bruise, snag or tear the exposed skin of persons whom the wearer of the watch may contact. Clothing may be pulled, which can also cause skin damage. The potentially harmful elements of wristwatches may include the watch case itself, the bezel, the crystal, the hinges, the stems, the stem knobs, the horns or lugs for bracelet or strap attachments, the bracelets or straps themselves, other attachments including ornamentation and insignia, clasps, including buckles and arrangements using hook and loop fasteners of the type generally known as VELCRO which can scratch and scrape the skin, and the shape and bulk of the watch itself, including watches with excessively high profiles, widths or hard, sharp edges.
Although brushing against or being struck by a worn wristwatch may cause skin tears and damage at any time, skin damage is relatively more likely to occur in situations such as the feeding, care and handling of infants and children, assisting and caring for the ill, aged and other persons with brittle skin and dermatological problems, and in events involving the possibilities of hard contact, e.g., certain athletic activities. This problem is important: skin scrapes, tears, punctures and contusions can be highly dangerous where healing processes may be slow or problematic and/or the potentials or likelihoods exist for infection.
Many health care practitioners recognize the seriousness of this issue. Rules, however, regarding the wearing of wristwatches while performing certain tasks are difficult to enforce and limited in application. Moreover, despite this long standing problem, there has been no satisfactory solution.
Works directed to the field of wristwatches are found in Class 224: Package and article carriers, and several of its subclasses, including subclasses 160, 170 and 174.
This Class includes a wide variety of improvements to wristwatch manufacture, bands and bracelets, attachments thereto, extensions, interchangeability of bands and bracelets, assembly, and other features. None have been found which do not retain or incorporate features that may scratch or tear skin.
Patents in this class, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,460, address protection of the wearer from injury by the wristwatch, and others such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,249, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,135, address protection for the wristwatch itself. None were found which aimed at or mitigated the potential for the wristwatch to cause harm to persons other than the wearer that the wristwatch might contact, and many, because of their increased bulk and other factors appear to actually increase the possibilities that they will cause injury to persons, other than the wearer, that the watch might contact.
Applicants' reviews of numerous catalogs of wristwatch offerings and inspections of wristwatch displays in major stores have also failed to reveal any models which address the problems of injuries to persons other than the wearer, whom the watch may come in contact with when worn.
These absences suggest that there have been no commercially successful inventions which solved the problem addressed by the current invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,249 to Rappaport seeks to provide an inexpensive disposable wristwatch having at least one sealed chamber containing the watch works and other hermetically sealed chambers which may contain decorative or promotional elements. The wristwatch is constructed by encapsulating the watch works and possibly other decorative elements, in individual chambers formed of thermoplastic materials which are welded parametrically together to define the enclosing chambers. Rappaport's design, however, does not have flowing contours and surfaces substantially smooth to the touch. Rather, Rappaport has rapid and sudden changes in thickness, discontinuities (as in the notches between the chambers), and relatively sharp edges and corners. The outside edges of the parametric welds which form this wristwatch may also present particularly hard edges to persons with whom they may come in contact.
Moreover, Rappaport uses a hook and loop fastener catch to join the ends of his band together. However, such catches can scratch and scrape the skin. When closed, the catch is not smooth but rather creates a sharp discontinuity, with a more than doubling of the band thickness, i.e., two thickness of band plus the hook and loop fastener.
In typical designs of hook and loop fastener catches a longer length of the hook or loop fastener is provided on the portion of the strap which forms the underside of the clasp, when it is closed, than is provided on the end of the strap which forms the top of the clasp, in order to provide adjustment for various sizes of wrists. When this type of closure is worn by a person with a large wrist, a length of the hook or loop fastener remains entirely exposed when the clasp is closed, and when worn by a person with a small wrist the closure results in a longer double thickness of strap, plus hook and loop, which may also catch and snag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,764 to Freeman et al. discloses a lightweight wearable multi-function device with a built-in display and is intended to improve upon other wearable devices which offer functions beyond the simple display of time. These kinds of functions include pedometric and physiological monitoring to joggers, smart card applications, health care information, cellular messaging services (the device may include a microphone and speaker), and so on. Although Freeman et al. states that his device “may be narrower than a smart card” it is clear that the device is large and bulky and not snag-free.
Wristwatches of the types used by hundreds of millions of wearers have display areas of sizes which may be incorporated in flexible bands without fear that they will break during normal flexing by the wearer. Freeman et al.'s device, however, requires a very large display to support and permit usage of the various functions of the device. The Freeman et al. display is so large that in order to be incorporated in a wearable and flexible device, the display element itself must be made flexible in order not to fail.
Freeman et al.'s display element must be adequate to show “medication and medical condition information” with their special requirements for readability and clarity, “animation sequences . . . a video clip or slide show”, and “stereoscopic effects”. All these functions require a large display area and requirements for easy to use control, which taken together, are major factors in establishing the dimensions of a large and bulky device.
Freeman et al.'s device is shown having a width that is relatively large compared to its length, and it is clear from the drawings that the device is large and bulky and hardly snag-free. Freeman et al. further uses a polymer edging 20 to “add comfort to a wearer” which indicates that the device is so large and bulky that users would find it uncomfortable to wear if the edging were not provided. The polymer edging also presents another surface that could harm a person other than the wearer. As is shown in Freeman et al.'s drawings, the device uses a clasp having protruding hooks or buckle rails on each side of one end of the strap. The other end of the strap slides under and engages these buckle rails. For this clasp to function, the portion of the strap which engages the rails must be relatively stiff and when engaged the strap must extend beyond the rails so that it can be grasped and pulled away to disengage the clasp. From a snagging perspective, with its protruding buckle rails and protruding strap, this design is potentially dangerous. Alternate clasps include a “peg and hole mechanism”, i.e. a conventional buckle, and hoop and loop fasteners, each of which are bulky and non-snag free.
Because of its bulk, lack of smoothness and protrusions, Freeman et al.'s device could not be used in situations such as caring for the ill and aged where contact is frequent and the resultant injuries and contusions can be highly dangerous. Moreover, even if Freeman et al.'s device were to incorporate a snag free clasp such as a bayonet clasp, the device would still have a non-smooth surface and be overly large and bulky to accommodate the various input keys and electronic devices incorporated in the device.
In Freeman et al.'s design where no value is attached to snag-free characteristics, his selection of buckle and hook and loop fastener clasps are appropriate. Although not snag-free, such clasps provide a number of practical advantages over bayonet clasps. They are easily adjustable to a variety of wrist sizes, while the bayonet clasp is not. If Freeman et al.'s device were made with the bayonet clasp, a single size would not fit all users. Conversely, manufacture of Freeman et al.'s device in multiple sizes would add production, inventory and retailing complications and also added cost penalties. Manufacture of the device with the bayonet clasp would also involve modification to the molded or machined top and bottom layers of the strap to accommodate the bayonet clasp components. Uses of buckle and hook and loop fastener catches are, moreover, widely accepted on heart monitors and wrist-worn devices intended to be sold to joggers and for athletic pursuits, while use of a bayonet catch on such devices, with the added complication of sizing issues, might encounter consumer resistance. Because of these disadvantages and cost penalties, it is highly unlikely that one skilled in the art would use a bayonet clasp on Freeman et al.'s device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,490 to Radley-Smith shows a wristwatch in which the display region is extended from the watch face to the bracelet itself, by use of a liquid crystal or LED (light emitting diode) elements either individually housed in a series of adjacent cases or in a single display unit extending along the bracelet.
Certain embodiments use a rigid bracelet which reflects Radley-Smiths's need to provide solid foundations for the liquid crystal and LED elements, to avoid flexing which could cause them to malfunction and break. Rigid bracelets are not snag-free and pose a risk to those other than the wearer with whom the watch comes in contact. When passing in sliding motions parallel to the axis of the wrist of the wearer, a rigid bracelet would, upon contact with another person, cant and cock and its hard edges would tend to injure. The opening in the “cuff” type rigid bracelet would also tend to catch and injure. The tang used in the hinge and clasp arrangements shown on certain embodiments of Radley-Smith's rigid bracelets is clearly a protruding element, likely to snag.
The remaining embodiments disclosed in Radley-Smith likewise show systems that have external stems and protruding elements, many sharp elements and abrupt changes in width and thickness, as in the meetings of the watch faces and bracelets, and the watch case to strap joints, and use of a conventional buckle. Some embodiments use a fabric wrap-around strap which carries a sequence of adjacent display elements and is provided with a hook and loop (Velcro) fastening. The extreme width of the strap to accommodate the closures would increase the likelihood of contact with persons other than the wearer. The high and irregular display elements protrude and present abrupt changes in thickness and non-continuous surfaces relative to themselves and each other. Similarly, the hook and loop closures present rough surfaces (exposed hook or loop closure), discontinuities, changes in thickness (double layers), etc.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 394,394 to Bruce shows an ornamental design wherein the portion of the band housing the display is configured in the form of an elongated “S”, and the display itself is in the form of an ellipse, with its long axis essentially normal to the band. The central portion of the band which houses the display is formed in the shape of an arch which supports the watch case considerably above the wrist of the wearer. This structure is highly unusual, and the arch form is further repeated in the watch crystal or covering which is dome shaped.
The “S” arrangement and elliptical display area of the design as shown in Bruce necessarily results in a wristwatch which is far wider than one of more linear design. The placement of the watch case itself in the arch shaped structure above the wrist of the wearer and the added thickness of the dome shaped watch crystal or covering, compared to a crystal of flatter design, results in a wristwatch which at the location of the display is far thicker than the wristwatch would otherwise be without these features. These ornamental arrangements make the watch case and display itself a protruding element, in a band that has abrupt changes in width and thickness.
The great bulkiness of Bruce increases the likelihood that the wristwatch may come in contact with and harm persons other than the wearer. The central portion of Bruce's band must also be constructed of semi-rigid material in order to maintain the “S” configuration and the arch structure, and this required stiffness of the band in Bruce would further increase the probability of harm to others.
Moreover, Bruce's patent covers only the central portion of the wristwatch, but the rounded ends of the straps, illustrated in broken lines, suggest that the closure itself would be of the buckle type or possibly of the hook and loop fastener type. Means for control are not shown in Bruce's drawings, but these items might add, along with the closure, yet another protruding element to the design. Thus, Bruce's design is far from snag-free and is not free of protruding elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,612 to Neher discloses a bayonet-type clasp means, but the Neher device itself is far from snag-free and smooth in its entirety. The Neher patent shows a global positioning element in a wrist or ankle worn device, whereby the position of the wearer may be remotely monitored, anytime and anywhere. The wristband/tracking unit and the slide switch are protruding elements, its band is made of cut-resistant and rigid materials, high tensile strength plastic fiber and stainless steel, and the band has abrupt changes in width and thickness at the tracking unit, and square corners. Thus, not only is the Neher device not a wristwatch, the device is far from snag-free and cannot be used as a safety wristwatch system.
The main design criteria which led to Neher's use of the bayonet clasp included the need for a closure which was cut-resistant, tamper proof, conveniently lockable, and made of material compatible with the steel bracelet, and which could complete an electrical circuit in the bracelet when closed to indicate to a remote monitor whether the bracelet was intact or broken. The bayonet clasp probably best met these requirements, but even with this clasp the Neher device will not avoid causing injuries to persons other than the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,987 to Schickedanz shows a timepiece consisting of a bangle on which multiple small rigid panels consisting of liquid crystal display elements or the like are mounted around all or nearly all of the surface and which, when read together, may display time in various ways. The multiple inflexible display units are individually mounted on a flexible annular wristband which Schickedanz describes as a “closed annular wrist band being a flexible and stretchable annular wristband”.
Schickedanz describes his elastic bracelet as “similar to a conventional elastic metal watch bracelet”. Thus, although the Schickedanz timepiece may be flexible, the Schickedanz timepiece is far from snag-free and cannot function as a safety wristwatch. The number in the display units of Schickedanz may be countersunk in relation to their surfaces and there are multiple interstices between the display units which may scratch, cut, or tear persons other than the wearer. The drawings in Schickedanz, moreover, show many sharp edges on the rigid display material, and the timepiece appears to be rigid in the direction of the axis of the wrist of the wearer such that the bangle may cock and cause damage upon contact with a person other than the wearer.
Hence, although countless wristwatches are in existence, there is a need for a safety wristwatch that is aimed at benefitting persons in close contact with the wearer of the watch, particularly the ill, aged, and infants, who may be struck and injured by a conventional wristwatch.
Each year more than two million persons contract infections as a result of hospital care, and an estimated ten million patients are at risk in the United States annually for contracting a staph infection. The staph virus is common and is carried by many healthy persons. Staph infections can occur when the integrity of the skin barrier is broken through surgical procedures, scrapes and scratches, or in other ways, and they can cause serious and sometimes fatal illness in the most vulnerable, including newborns, certain diabetics, and the elderly. Staph bacteria are the number one cause of hospital infections, are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment, and are a serious public health problem. A safety wristwatch, if worn by care givers instead of ordinary wristwatches which frequently have sharp edges and are bulky and likely to injure, would avoid or reduce the possibilities that their wristwatch would strike and injure the persons in their care, or open a path for infection, and thus would provide considerable benefits to persons being cared for.